My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

The past couple weeks have been rough. We've been dealing with sickness and other issues. So we've been taking it easy and letting non-essential things slide. It's times like these that I start baking. What can I say? I'm my mother's daughter. I grew up watching her de-stress by baking.

So when my husband Josh was dealing with his issues (a.k.a. Hives-- and yes, that's "Hives" with a capital H), all I could think to do to help was make our favorite chocolate chip cookies.

I've used quite a few different chocolate chip cookie recipes in the past, but I've finally found one that I can say definitively is my favorite. I don't make them all too often because they usually disappear within a day. But they are so good.

I think the secret to these cookies is the butter. Just be careful to not let the butter soften too much or you'll end up with flat cookies.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen
From the KitchenAid cookbook

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
12 ounces chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375º.
Mix sugars, butter, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add in the baking soda, salt, and flour to sugar mixture and beat until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Bake for 8-9 minutes.


Enjoy, my friends.

Good-For-You Chicken Chili {Crockpot Chili}

Happy New Year, my friends!

I've never really been one for making (or keeping!) resolutions every January. Yet this year, I find myself really compelled to make some changes in my life. One of which-- is to be healthier.

The thing about being healthy is that it takes a lot of work.

Exercising. Meal planning. Cooking. Blech. But it needs to be done.

So I've decided to bring you all along with me on my healthier journey, if you'll join me. In addition to all my regular crafts and projects, I'll share any easy, yet good-for-you recipes that I make here in my home.

So here we go:

Crockpot Chicken Chili

Makes about 4 servings
Adapted from Rita's Recipes

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts (they can even be frozen!)
2 14-oz. cans of diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 can of sweet corn
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (black, chili, or kidney beans could work as well)
1 8-oz. pkg. fat-free cream cheese
1 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
1 t. onion powder
1 pkg. of ranch dressing mix or make the following homemade ranch dressing mix . . .

Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix:

1 T. dried parsley
1 t. dried basil
2 t. dried dill
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1 t. dried chives
1/2 t. black pepper

The great thing about using a homemade ranch mix is that you can control how much salt you want. If you notice, this recipe tries to limit the sodium content. A lot of chili recipes have tons of salt! We like to get the no salt added canned tomatoes and I'm careful to rinse the beans to counteract that issue.

Instructions

Put all ingredients into your crockpot. Give it a little stir. Cook on high for about 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Right before serving, shred the chicken with a fork.

Easy peasy! This recipe makes a rather mild chili. If you like some zing, you can add some cayenne or a couple of chipotle peppers. Or just top a bowl with some jalapenos. I ate my bowl with seven tortilla chips. Yes, I counted. Every. Single. One. . . Sigh.

:)

I think each serving (2 cups) has approximately 360 calories. I'm not an expert, but if I did my math right, that should be pretty close.

Do you all have any resolutions for the new year? Do you have any favorite healthy recipes?

Top 12 Posts of 2012

With the end of the year coming to a close, I thought it would be fun to look back and see what were some of the most popular posts from my blog. According to traffic, these were the top 12 posts of 2012:

1. Five Minute, 4 Ingredient Cheesecake

2. Fall Nesting Series, Day One

3. DIY Marquee Letters

4. DIY Decorative Trough

5. Flag Nail Art with DIY Polish Strips

6. Resurrection Rolls

7. Deviled Eggs

8. Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

9. DIY Paper Cone Tree

10. Chalkboard Paint Stick Drink Tags

11. Mason Jar Lanterns

12. Refinished Desk Chair

Thank you all for joining me this year! Here's to hoping 2013 is even better.

See you in the new year!

Glitter Star Ornaments {Nearly Free Craft Project}

And finally my last "nearly free" Christmas project...

Some people hate that so many Christmas decorations these days have glitter. I know it can get a bit messy, but I can't help myself-- I love it. Especially when paired with rustic or natural elements.

I cut stars out of an empty cereal box. This was the hardest part for me. Who knew drawing the outline of a star could be so difficult? After several tries, I got what I wanted.

Then I applied a thin coat of white paint and while it was still wet covered it with glitter. It's best to do this on a paper plate so that you can pour the excess glitter back into the jar.

After the stars dried, I cut a short length of string, looped it around and sandwiched between two stars to complete the ornament. I used tape to put it all together, because it was next to me, but you could use glue too.

I've hung them on a few branches that have been painted white.


What do you think-- are you a glitter lover or hater?

Linking to:

Serenity Now's Weekend Bloggy Link Party

Weekend Links

First of all, Indy wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! He has been so helpful decorating the house for Christmas. :) 

• This whipped garlic and cracked pepper butter looks delicious.
• These beaded gift tags on Design Sponge are simple, cute, and a little unexpected.
• It's such a genius idea to make faux antlers out of molded clay!
• Apparently you can roast a chicken in the slow cooker. This is on my "need to try" list this winter!
• How to use a glue gun to make snowflakes on your windows on Ucreate.

Happy weekend, my friends!

tree branch christmas tree [crafts for christmas]

Here's project number two of three in my "nearly free" Christmas craft mini-series. The first was the paper cone tree and today I made a tree branch Christmas tree for the wall.

I had a little empty corner in the office, next to my desk that needed a bit of festive cheer. So I went out into the yard and found sticks in increasingly shorter lengths.

I had a bit of red spray paint left, so I gave the sticks a light coat. Not enough to cover completely, but just enough to give some color.

I tied all the sticks together with two long pieces of string, which I tied in a knot at the top. I made a loop with the ends to hang it by.

I topped it off with a glittered paper star.

Now my sad little corner is not so glum anymore!

Linking to:

The Holiday Home Link Party

Happy Hour Link Party

Dinner in a Flash: Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp scampi is one of the easiest dishes you can make. It can be ready in as little as 15 minutes!

And it's delicious.

Need I say more?

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1 lemon, sliced and then halved
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Old Bay seasoning

Makes about four servings.

1. Preheat your oven to 350º. 
2. Pour the melted butter onto your baking sheet.
3. Lightly squeeze out the lemon juice into the butter, then spread the lemon slices over the baking sheet.
4. Spread the minced garlic and shrimp evenly over the surface of the baking sheet.
5. Sprinkle a thin coating of Old Bay seasoning over the entire thing.
6. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through.

Serve over angel hair pasta or thin spaghetti.

Yum!

Linking to:

Home Stories A to Z's Tutorials and Tips